#Iridescence

[smithsonianlibraries]

Close up photo of a mosquito's wing from Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia v.114 (2017). Full text here.

[chasingrainbowsforever]

Close-up of a dragonfly wing, not stained glass.

[noosphe-re]

Green Rainbow Natural Iridescent Pyrite From Peru

[makenna-made-this]

'I can't believe i missed the northern lights, once in a life time experience FOMO" could NOT be me. I see the northern lights every day in my chickens' beautiful feathers

[strawlessandbraless]

Oh to be an iridescent sea creature 💚 💙 💜

[fleuralie]

[requiem-on-water]

Hinterland by Tom Leighton

[entomologize]

Fun fact: common buckeye butterflies (Junonia coenia) can be selectively bred to be blue fairly easily!

It turns out the only thing needed to go from brown to blue is a slightly thicker lamina, which is a flat layer at the bottom of the wing scale:

The lamina's iridescence is caused by the same phenomena as soap bubbles: thin-film interference. When light hits the transparent film of the lamina, it reflects off both the top and bottom of the layer.

Depending on the thickness and refractive properties of the material, the two reflected light waves can be in sync (image below) or cancel each other out. At the perfect thickness, the blue waves of light are enhanced and the butterfly becomes iridescent!

Because the difference in thickness needed to cause iridescence is so slight, it took less than a year to shift a population from just a few blue scales to full-on fabulous blue.

Photos & figures by Rachel Thayer, Nipam Patel, and Edith Smith.

[neon-glowing-rainbow-stims]

💚 ~ Aurora Borealis ~ 💚 (pilotslime)

(Credit if you use) (ko-fi)

[heartnosekid]

frida.yolotzin on ig

[lionfloss]

by femalepentimento

[thefirststarr]

Why are these clouds multi-coloured? A relatively rare phenomenon in clouds known as iridescence can bring up unusual colours, or even a whole spectrum of colours simultaneously. These polar stratospheric clouds also, known as mother-of-pearl clouds, are formed of small water droplets of nearly uniform size. When the Sun is in the right position and, typically, hidden from direct view, these thin clouds can be seen significantly diffracting sunlight in a nearly coherent manner, with different colours being deflected by different amounts. Therefore, different colours will come to the observer from slightly different directions. Many clouds start with uniform regions that could show iridescence but quickly become too thick, too mixed, or too far from the Sun to exhibit striking colours. The featured image and an accompanying video were taken late in 2019 over Ostersund, Sweden.

Image Copyright: Image Credit: Goran Strand

[chasingrainbowsforever]

~ Texture | Pattern | Design ~

[fulminatoin]

[fatchance]

Plumas brillantes.

Iridescent plumage on Gould’s turkeys / guajolote norteño (Meleagris gallopavo mexicana) at Santa Rita Lodge. In Madera Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona.

[moonfaes]